Hand truck for drums



Jan. 29, 1957 TAKEFUSA KIKUCHI 2,779,494

HAND TRUCK FOR DRUMS Filed May 17, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet l 1957 TAKEFUSA KlKUCHl HAND TRUCK FOR DRUMS Filed May 17, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent Q HAND TRUCK FOR DRUMS Takefusa Kikuchi, Tokyo-to, Japan, assignor to Taiyu Shoji Kabushiki-Kaisha, Tokyo-to, Japan, a liability limited company of Japan Application May 11, 1954, Serial No. 430,318

Claims priority, application Japan June 23, 1953 4 Claims. (Cl. 214-650) This invention relates to a hand truck with a device to grip the drum, which is set vertically on the ground, and with a device to lift and lower as it may be desired to convey the drum conveniently and safely by an operator without tilting the drum during the operations.

Similar hand trucks are known, but have such defects that the gripping of the drum cannot be said to be positive. On account of the hand operated lifting devices it is diflicult to keep the drum vertical during the lifting or lowering operation for two-wheel trucks, and the drums must be tilted when they are lifted to be transported.

An object of this invention is to eliminate said defects. The main characteristics of this hand truck are:

(1) the gripping device and lifting device are designed to be operated independently of each other, and thus a positive and secure gripping may be obtained,

(2) the lifting device is operated by foot, so that during operation the truck handle can be held with both hands, keeping the drum vertical. Thus, even opened drums full of liquid can be transported safely;

One end of the foot-lever 10 is bent horizontally at right angles to serve as a pedal 10, and the other end is toggle jointed to one end of a connecting rod 11. Due to the construction as above described, the sliding stanchion 8 is lifted. when the pedal 10 is pressed down by foot until the lever 10 stops beyond dead center at the position shown in Fig. 4.

The gripping device includes external and internal gripping units. The former is a jaw 6 which is curved to contact the outer surface of a drum snugly and is fixed on the front of the upper part of the vertical portion of the sliding stanchion 8. The other unit consists of a gripping lever 7, an operating lever 15, and a locking lever 17. The gripping lever 7', which is pivotally supported by a bracket 12 fixed at the top of the sliding stanchion 8 has, at its one end, an internal gripping jaw 7 which is convex to snugly contact the inner surface of the chime of the drum to press it against the outer gripping jaw 6, while at its other end is a longitudinal slot to be connected with one end of a pivoted operating lever 15. The front part of the operating lever 15, which is supported by a bracket 14' fixed on the upper surface of the horizontal part of the sliding stanchion 8, is provided with a pin 16 to engage with the slot 13 of the gripping lever 7 as above explained, and the rear part of the operating lever 15 is so dimensioned as to give a strong grip to the jaws by applying very little downward force at the end of the lever. The locking lever 17 is supported by a bracket fixed on the upper surface of the horizontal part of the sliding stanchion8, and locks the rear end of the operating lever 15 to hold the jaws in secure gripping (3) since the'lifting device can be operated by foot,

the lifting and lowering operations are light and easy,

(4) the hand truck can be operated by a single operator, and

(5) the simplicity of gripping and lifting devices is matched by the simplicity of the truck chassis to provide an efficient, simple device which can be constructed at low cost.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the truck of this invention,

Fig. 2 is a. side elevation showing a drum in position on the ground prior to lifting,

Fig. 3 is a plan view of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a side elevation showing the drum in a lifted position, and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the chime of a drum gripped by the jaws.

The truck chassis consists of a semi-circular underframe 4 capable of embracing the lower part of a drum, a tubular stanchion. 5 of circular cross section rigidly fixed vertically to the underframe 4 at the center of its arc, and an inverted L-shaped tubular sliding stanchion 8, one end of which slides upwards out of and downwards into the fixed stanchion 5, while the other end is provided with a handle-bar 14. A pair of wheels 2 and 2' support the chassis through their axles and a pair of bearing brackets 3 and 3', which are fixed to the under-frame 4 at its front end. These wheels are so arranged that the center of gravity of the chassis holding the drum comes nearly above the wheel axles so as to keep the chassis holding the drum well balanced when it is pushed by the handle-bar 14.

The lifting and lowering device consists of a foot lever 10 pivotally supported by a bracket 9 which is rigidly fixed to the rear side of the fixed stanchion 5.

position.

Thus, however thin the rolled head of the chime outside of the drum may be, a firm grip can be secured by the jaws during transportation. The following is a brief description of the manner of using the hand truck of this invention.

The operatorfirst opens the gripping jaw 7 by raising the rear end of the operating lever 15 and applies the truck to the side of a drum and adjusts the height of the outer gripping jaw 6 so that it will come just under edge C of the rolled bead at the chime, as shown in Fig. 5.

\ Then the rear end of the operating lever 15 is pushed down to grip the chime firmly by both jaws 6 and 7, and then said operating lever is locked by closing the locking lever 17 down on said operating lever, as shown in Fig. 2. In this case, said gripping by both jaws 6 and 7 can be securely obtained because, as shown clearly in Fig. 5, in general, the cover plate B of the drum is lower than the upper edge of the drum shell A by a height h and is attached to the drum shell by turning down the rim D of said plate B, the height I of said rim D being shorter than said height h, whereby space suitable for gripping the drum chime by the jaws 6 and 7 is obtained.

The operator then holds the truck handle 14 with both hands, steps down on the pedal 10 until lever 11 and connecting rod 11 come to their mutual stable position beyond dead center, as illustrated in Fig. 4.

Thus the drum is gripped at the chime and embraced by the under-frame 4- at the lower part of the shell and is stably lifted to a necessary and sulficient height from the ground, as shown in Fig. 4. The drum is now ready to be transported. Here the operator can move the truck forward very easily by pushing it by the handlebar.

When the truck has been transported to a desired place the operator can unload the drum by the reverse operation as above described.

I claim:

1. In a drum carrying hand truck for transporting drums including jaws capable of gripping the chime of pable of sliding said rod in said pipe, said jaws comprising a lower jaw fixed to said supporting rod capable of engaging under the exterior of the chime of the drum, an arm on said supporting rod, a lever pivoted at its center to said arm and having a longitudinal slot in the rear end thereof, on upper jaw fixed to the front end of said lever and capable of engaging the inside of said chime, an op erating lever pivoted at its center to said handle of said supporting rod and provided with a pin at one end thereof which is engaged in said longitudinal slot, said operating lever being provided with a handle at the other end whereby the jaw may be operated to open and close said upper jaw, and a locking means capable of locking said operating lever to hold the jaws in chime gripping position.

2. in a drum carrying hand truck for transporting drums including jaws capable of gripping the chime of the drum, a mechanism capable of operating said jaws to the positions to engage said jaws with inner and exterior parts of said chime and a lifting device capable of lifting the drum when gripped by said jaws at the chime, a mechanism which comprises a lifting device composed of a wheeled support, a supporting pipe mounted rigidly on said wheeled support, a supporting rod slidably engaged in the hollow part of said pipe, arms fixed to the rear sides of said pipe and rod, a treadle-lever pivoted to said arm of said pipe, and a connecting rod pivoted at the upper end thereof to said arm of said supporting rod and at the lower end thereof to the front end of said treadlelever.

3. In a drum carrying hand truck, a Wheeled chassis comprising a vertical fixed tubular stanchion and a sliding stanchion supported by said fixed stanchion by a sliding fit, a lifting device connecting said two stanchions to lift said sliding stanchion, a gripping device supported by said sliding stanchion and consisting of an outer gripping jaw fixed on said sliding stanchion to engage the outer surface of chime of the drum to be transported, a gripping lever pivotally supported by said sliding stanchion and equipped with an internal gripping jaw at one end to firm- 1y contact the inner surface of said chime to press it against said outer gripping jaw, said gripping lever having a longitudinal slot at the other end, an operating lever pivoted at its center to a bracket fixed on said sliding stanchion and provided with a pin at one end thereof to be engaged in said longitudinal slot, a handle at the other end of said operating lever for applying force to said gripjaws, and a locking lever capable of locking said operating lever to hold said jaws in gripping position.

4. A drum carrying hand truck having a wheeled chassis which comprises a vertical fixed tubular stanchion, a sliding stanchion slidably fitted in said fixed stanchion, a lifting device connecting said two stanchions to lift said sliding stanchion, a gripping device supported by said sliding stanchion and consisting of an outer gripping jaw fixed on said sliding stanchion to engage the chime of the drum to be transported, a gripping lever pivotally supported by said sliding stanchion and equipped at one. end with an internal gripping jaw to contact the inner surface of said chime against said outer gripping jaw and having a longitudinal slot at the other end, an operating lever pivoted at the center part thereof to a bracket fixed on said sliding stanchion and provided with a pin at one end thereof to be engaged in said longitudinal slot, said operating lever having a handle at the other end to give a firm grip to said jaws by applying downward manual force on said handle, and a locking lever capable of locking said operating lever at the operated position thereof, said lifting device consisting of a foot lever pivotally supported by a bracket fixed to said fixed stanchion, one end of said lever serving as a pedal and the other end being pivotally jointed to a connecting rod which is pivotally supported at its upper end by a bracket fixed to said sliding stanchion to lift said sliding stanchion by downward pressure on said foot lever.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 814,329 Sigler et a1 Mar. 6, 1906 1,731,204 Recchia Oct. 8, 1929 2,272,447 Traxel Feb. 10, 1942 2,620,937 Halloran Dec. 9, 1952 2,635,775 Ernst Apr. 21, 1953 2,682,962 Greenawalt July 6, 1954 

